Always wanting a diesel vehicle and not being able to get a Passat with a diesel, I bought a 2003 Jetta TDI wagon (the last of its kind in Massachusetts). Knock on wood, it has been delightful, but it is really a two person vehicle with room for the tennis bag and golf clubs (okay, skis, both XC and Alpine fit on the roof). We also have a Saab convertible, a BMW
7 series, a Chevy Tahoe and a MB ML320. I love the TDI. It goes like a bat out of hell, has a great deal of low end torque, and is simply fun to drive. Add to that it gets a gazillion miles to the gallon (okay I am getting around 44 mpg, but I have not done anything to improve the mileage). Of course when I show up at the golf course in it, the help thinks I am not a member, but rather there to take out the trash. Snobs. It handles well in the snow and ice, but I wish it had 4Motion.
I intend to trade in 2007 for a Passat when the Commonwealth allows diesels again, but in the interim it is a wonderful vehicle. Mine is black with a black leather interior. The interiors in the VW's are very good. Almost as supple as the BMW, but not quite. I recently drove through mountainous backroads in Spain in a Discovery. I would have loved to have the Jetta instead.
Yes, I am stuck with the dealer, but what the hell. If anything goes really wrong, I know where he lives. ;-)
Tom
I bought a 1998 Jetta TDI and will not be purchasing another TDI. >
> This was my first new car and I babied it, brought it to the dealer
> every 4500-5000 miles for service. I have a long commute,
> approximately 100 miles a day. Additionally, from 98-03 this was our
> only car, so it also saw some long road trips.
>
> I love driving this car and the gas milage is unbeatable. That being
> said, I have not had a great experience with this car. It currently
> has 150K miles on it. At 120K, the lifter on the factory installed
> engine lifter broke while driving on the highway approximately 1 month
> after I had the timing belt replaced by the dealer (coincidence? I
> think not!). I decided to have the engine replaced with a salvaged one
> with 55K miles on it. The "new" engine has had a number of problems,
> which I don't completely blame on VW. I don't know how the engine was
> maintained prior to my buying it, but I've been taking care of it as
> well as I did the original, with the main exception being I no longer
> take it to a dealer. I found an independant mechanic who is a TDI > fanatic.
>
> The experience of having to have the engine replaced has caused me to
> rethink my choice of purshasing a diesel, regardless of the benefits of
> ownership. The main reason is in my experience, hardly anyone outside
> of a VW dealer has any experience in working on TDIs. Although they
> are getting more popular, they're still rare. I had a hard time
> finding anyone who was willing to work on my car since it was a diesel.
> This greatly reduces your repair / service options. Additionally,
> whenever a problem comes up with the engine, in my experience there is
> usually only one VW service tech who is really qualified to work on
> TDIs at each dealer (at least the 4 dealers I have brought the car to
> in the Boston metro area). If another tech is working on your car,
> service is sometimes delayed when they have to consult with their
> resident expert (which also drives up the price).
>
> I've also been told by a dealer service tech that the other VW
> powerplants send more data to the diagnostic computer, which decreases
> problem diagnostic time (he told me this when I recently experienced a
> loss of acceleration at highway speeds which was attributed to a faulty
> Air Mass sensor -- apparently a 1.8T, etc. would have sent an error
> code to the computer when this condition occurs, which my TDI didn't).
> I don't know if this statement is true, or if it's only true for older
> TDIs. I haven't spent any time looking into the validity of this, so
> please don't flame me for being wrong if this is not true. I would be
> curious in hearing if someone knows the answer to this.
>
> For my next car, I've decided to go with the flow and buy the gas
> poweplant which everyone else has. since this will make servicing the
> car much more convenient.
>
> Even with the problems I have had with this car, I am not writing off
> VW since I love driving these cars. I also own a 03 Passat 1.8T which
> I am very happy with.
>